


And then... You

by Uncontinuous (nights_fang)



Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-02
Updated: 2016-09-02
Packaged: 2018-08-12 15:57:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7940533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nights_fang/pseuds/Uncontinuous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jake is still dealing with trying to pretend that Cicily didn't happen. So, of course a new case is going to prop up and reveal one of Ezekiel's biggest secrets and force him into helping deal with it when he just wants to avoid Jones. Because life hates him.</p><p>Or the one where Ezekiel Jones is also secretly a single dad, Jake is in denial about dating Ezekiel in the Happily Ever Afters, and he is not prepared for any of this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And then... You

**Author's Note:**

> This is purely self indulgent and I have no excuse for this.

It starts when the clippings book starts violently shaking.

Jake's there to help Baird and Jenkins with some cataloguing. Cassandra is working on something with math and leylines, and she'd tried to explain to him but they both got too overexcited and maybe her nose started to bleed a bit. Jake decided – after a well placed elbow jab from Baird – that it was much better to wait for her to finish before asking. Jones is... Jones is nowhere to be found. (Which Jake is definitely not glad about because he's definitely not avoiding him. He's _not_.)

Now that Jake thinks about it, Jones has not been around a little after Flynn and Baird came back. He vanished and Jake is sure that Jones is probably out stealing something. Jake hoped he'd given it up with his recent more heroic streak, but apparently old habits seem to die hard.

Actually, Jake is _hoping_ that Jones is out stealing something, because judging by how he was when Baird and Flynn were stuck – though it was mostly just him missing Baird, and the weeks before with the game, and then Prospero trapping them with false memories and lives in Cicily (which Jake really _really_ doesn't want to ever talk about, wants to _forget_ ), it would mean that Ezekiel's gone back to being somewhat normal.

Baird is the first one to the Clipping's book checking it out. Jake's not surprised because there's been a lull in anything happening and that always gets Baird suspicious. She's sure that when that when something finally happens, it'll be huge, or bad, or _both_.

She's right most of the time.

Her face goes hard and pale at what she's read, and that's what worries Jake. He reads the clippings, and there are multiple, and yeah he suddenly gets the why behind Baird's expression.

"Oh," Cassandra gasps.

It's a pattern of almost randomised events in schools across the world: an accident in the art room that seems too much like happenstance, playground accidents that can be attributed to faulty equipment or kids accidentally hurting others while being too enthusiastic, a few chemistry lab accidents which can be written down due to improper supervision. There's an obvious escalation in the scale or injuries and the number of victims. And it would be something that would be glossed over, except it's in their Clippings Book.

Something magical is targeting children and using them to mainly hurt other children. Jake feels sick.

The most recent one is in London— a gas leak in the chemistry lab, and that's where they're going.

"Shouldn't we wait for Ezekiel?" Cassandra asks before Jake can, so all he has to do is chime in. "He's probably got a notification."

"Yeah, this seems like an all hands on deck situation."

"No, he'll..." Baird says, and then trails off looking back at the London clipping in the book. There's something _off_ about this and Baird is too obviously worried to hide it. Jake's starting to get a sinking feeling in his stomach. "He's probably on his way there if he's not already there. But I'm hoping he's not, and we get there before him."

Which doesn't make sense. "Why?" Jake asks.

"I don't want him on this case."

Jake shares a glance with Cassandra and is glad to know that he's not the only one who looks like they want to ask more questions.

-

 

There are many things Jake is expecting to see when they topple through the back door and into one of the hallway near the entrance—dust, smoke, panicking parents demanding answers being some of them. They've arrived just post blast when the aftermath is being sorted out.

He's not expecting Jones amongst the parents, pale, worried, looking like he'd run a marathon to get there. They knew he got updated via his cell through the Clippings book, but he'd still have to come in to the Library to get here. The feeling Jake has is getting worst.

Apparently Baird _is_ expecting Jones, because she cuts both Cassie's and his exclamations of _'Ezekiel?'_ and _'Jones?'_ with a murmured _'shit'_ , marches up to him, and places a hand on his shoulder. Jones looks confused when he sees them, "what are you guys doing here?"

"It was in the Clippings Book. We're here to investigate." And then much gentler, she asks, "Any news?"

Jones doesn't seem to hear beyond 'Clippings book' because his eyes widen and then he's fumbling in his pockets, pulling out his cell phone, and swearing loud enough that some parents manage to get distracted from worrying to throw them dirty looks. This, Jake absently notes, is the kind of feat only Jones could pull off somehow.

"Shit, sorry, I wasn't paying attention to it. Right, I'll..."

"Jones," Baird cuts him off, "No, you're not on this case."

He looks livid, "Wait Baird if–"

" _No_ ," she cuts him off again. "Look I get how you feel, but _you_ should know how these things work."

He still looks defiant and furious, and ready to argue some more when they're interrupted by a young woman. She seems like the nervous type, but currently too tired to be anything else. "Mr Jones."

Jones rounds on her so quickly that she takes a step back and tries to smile. "They've taken Hae to the hospital."

He seems to go rigid at the news. Jake considers leaning forward to catch him but Baird's arm is back on his shoulders and her grip is firm. The woman – teacher, Jake realises, having done her job and cursorily made sure that Jones was all right, has already moved on to the next set of parents.

"Go," Baird says. It's less of an order and more of a plea. "Ezekiel go. Take Stone with you. Cassandra and me will look at things here, and swing by to update you. _Trust me_."

Jones nods, and starts walking out. Well marching out seems like a better term. Jake makes to follow, but Baird stops him, "Watch him all right? Text Jenkins the coordinates of the hospital when you get there. And if anything happens, however minor, _call me_ right away."

Jake nods.

There are so many questions that Jake wants to ask, so many things he wants to know. He's jumping to all the wrong conclusions and wants to be told that they're _wrong_ , he _needs_ to be told that they're wrong because that'll be the only thing that gets rid of this cold dread. He knows that he's not going to get any answers because they need to act fast. Still, he tries for at least one fundamental one which seems like it'll answer most of his questions, "Who's Hae?"

Jake knows the answer before it comes, has somewhat guessed it or rather _remembered_ it and the weight of it is settling cold in his stomach with other things he's tried to forget from what he personally refers to as the _three weeks that were not_ , but it's still a lot to take in.

Baird looks at him right in the eyes and says, "She's Ezekiel's daughter."

-

 

Ezekiel Jones has a daughter.

 _Ezekiel Jones has a daughter_.

Jake's still processing the revelation as he catches up to Jones, who is, surprisingly, waiting for him by a car. He'd half thought the thief would leave him behind because he didn't want to wait or just genuinely forgot. Honestly, Jones doesn't seem all there.

Jake processes it all through the car ride besides a terrifyingly quiet Jones, until they get into the hospital, ask for Hae Jones, and get directed to the room where the girl is. He processes it until they're in the room Hae Jones is being examined in and Jake can see her sitting on the bed.

( _"So, um, since I'm going to be stationed here for a bit longer, I'm thinking of having the girls visit," Ezekiel says shifting nervously in his seat at their usual breakfast cafe on campus. It's the first time in the short time that Jake's known Agent Jones that Jake's ever seen the man this way. Jake's actually worried._

_"Would you, uh, like to meet them? I mean, you totally don't have to if you don't want to. I've just told them about you so I thought they could put a face to the name. It's not an obligation. It won't be weird if you say no. I won't take it badly. It's completely your thing mate," and Ezekiel is babbling and Jake is honestly feeling far too warm on the inside._

_"Ezekiel," he says reaching over to catch his hand and grinning, and oh god Bertha is on duty today and she's going to tell the whole class, she's probably taking pictures, but Jake doesn't even care, "I'd love to meet them."_ )

He'd thought it was just part of the illusion when they were back. One of those things Ezekiel desperately wanted that Jake would've talked to him about if he wasn't busy being awkward and trying to forget. Or rather it was one of the things that _Jake_ wanted and his supposedly fairy tale life forced it on Ezekiel.

Except no it's _real_. Ezekiel Jones really has a daughter. She's real as anything else, and she's something that even his fake life couldn't imagine Ezekiel Jones without, and she's sitting on the hospital bed after a being caught up in a magically induced explosion. And Jones? Jones just seems to deflate at the sight of her. He walks over to the bed, grasps her hands, and quietly starts talking to her in, what Jake realises after a moment of staring dumbly, Korean.

Hae Jones is a wispy, tall, mixed race girl, and she looks older than Jake expected. She's definitely a preteen. How young was Ezekiel when he had her, Jake wonders. (Then, he wonders if he can even ask, if he's allowed to ask.) She has Ezekiel's eyes, and his cheekbones, but her kinky hair and the rest of her features aren't his. They're probably her mother's.

(Jake tries to ignore just how aware he is of Jones' facial features. He's into art, and he notices these kinds of things, that's his excuse. It's got nothing to do with that one afternoon in his office in those three weeks that never were where he spent his time cataloguing every single feature of Ezekiel.)

Thankfully, except for a few scratches, she seems to look all right.

"Who're you?" And Jake realises she's asking him. Jones turns to him as well confused, as if he'd forgotten Jake was even there. He probably had, considering how he's been since the moment they met him in the school. Jake doesn't even blame him.

Hae has a piercing stare, one which is funnily enough very similar to Colonel Baird's, and Jake realises he's yet to answer her. His mouth suddenly feels dry for a reason he can't name and there's an Art Professor from the three weeks that never were that's dying to say _I'm your dad's boyfriend_.

Instead Jake says, "I work with your dad."


End file.
